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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defends Edinson Cavani after FA confirms 3 match ban
Speaking for the first time after Edinson Cavani was banned by the FA (h/t Manchester Evening News), manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defended the Uruguayan but said the ban was ‘expected’.
The FA confirmed Cavani’s 3-match ban on new year’s eve. In addition to the suspension, the Manchester United striker was also fined £100,000.
The 33-year-old will take a ‘face-to-face’ educational course after refusing to challenge the ban. Cavani was apologetic after the ban was confirmed, and says the incident occurred due to linguistic differences.
The post, for which Cavani was banned, included the word ‘ne*rito’ as the Uruguayan thanked a friend on his Instagram account. The word carries different connotations in South America, where Cavani is from.
And the boss maintains that Cavani is not racist. Moreover, Solskjaer also says that the ban was always coming once the charges were first brought in for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’.
“When the charge came in, you expected Edinson to get a ban. One thing for sure, he’s not a racist, that’s for sure. There was no malice.”
Cavani to be back in time for derby
The United boss says the situation arose out of a misunderstanding and the club wants to ‘move on’ from it.
“I think his words were taken out of context but he’s accepted it and we just want to move on.”
Cavani was thus suspended for the 2-1 win for United against Aston Villa on Friday night. Apart from the game against Villa, he will miss two more matches.
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The Uruguayan will not be up for selection against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday, and will also sit out of the FA Cup 3rd round fixture against Watford at the weekend.
He will be back in time for the league matches against Burnley and Liverpool in the following week.
